Help Needed for a Hawaiian Excursion!

[A Little Pixie Dust]

My family is going on Summit in December for a Hawaiian Holiday Cruise. We want to take our 9 year old daughter snorkeling but can not decide where would be best since we have never been to Hawaii. We have looked over the excursions and are trying to decide if one of them will work best or if there is a location to go to on our own that will work better. We are renting cars at several of the ports so transportation is not a problem.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you!

 

Desiree

[Cptn. Heimlich]

Hi Desiree - this is Cptn's wife here - We just got back from the Jan 29 Summit to Hawaii - it was amazing (I'm working on a review). We snorkeled in 3 spots and being it was our first ever time to snorkel I can safely say it would be fine for your 9 year old (at least I would have no problem bringing our 12 year old). 1st stop we snorked was Kona. We immediately grabbed a cab to Kahahu'u Beach Park (about 10 min). Go right away to beat the crowds and you will see the giant sea turtles feeding - RIGHT beside you and all around you! It is like a giant natural aquarium. Just walk right in the water. It is very safe - there is a natural breakwater. By 10 a.m. it was quite busy though - so go right away. 2nd place was Kauai - we rented a car and after doing the canyon we went to Poipu Beach. We used the beach in front of the Marriot Waiohai Beach Club (there is a public beach right there too but the Marriot is lovely and worth seeing). There are tons of fish here too and they are used to being fed rice - I found this a little un-nerving as the fish surround you as soon as you get in the water hoping for a feed. The day we were there a monk seal was sunning right there on the beach. Final snorkel spot was Maui. Again, grab a cab, beat the crowd and head straight for Kaanapali - Sheraton. There is a path right to the beach and once at the beach walk down to Black Rock. While we were their Whales performed for us right in front of our eyes - gorgeous. Tons of fish again - I saw an octopus - husband say a 400lb turtle which I missed! That is more info than you wanted but if not just ask. Jayna. :)

[A Little Pixie Dust]

Thank you! That sounds great. I will definitely put them on my list. We are getting excited as time is passing by quickly. Any info you can provide on any excursions you did would be appreciated.

 

Thank you!

 

Desiree

[Cruise Arizona]

We did a charter with this outfit:

 

http://konaseasports.com/SnorkelCruise.htm

 

It truely was the highlight of the trip. We did the deep sea/snorkle combo. We didn't catch anything as we were between seasons, but, oh the beatiful fish we saw in the snorkeling.

 

Captain stays on boat because he can't anchor, so the first mate, sometimes his wife or his friend Larry, both experienced snorklers or divers go with you to do the snorkling. My kids, 7 and 9, just kept saying "Mr. Larry, Mr. Larry, what's that fish, ...I saw a puffer, I saw a parrot fish, I saw a humahumnukanuapuaa!!!" It was so personalized for the four of us to have the guide to ourselves.

 

It was a little bit on the expensive side, see the web site for rates, but we thought it was well worth it. If there are just three of you, you could maybe try to find another two or three people from your roll-call to share the charter with you.

 

Take care, and I hope your trip to Hawaii is as memorable as our was. We were on the Infinity last Thanksgiving.

[cruise freak]

We went with Kona Sea Sports as well. They are great and had a wonderful day.

 

Have a great time.